An image from the book provided by the author.If you've ever wondered about how a new, collaborative, sustainable, democratic economy might work the new book Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet, is for you.
The book is edited by Trebor Scholz and Nathan Schneider, the organisers of the Platform Co-operativism events in New York, who have really put this movement on the map. With contributions from scores of contributors and case studies of working platform co-ops, as well as guidance for any would-be platform founders and designers, Ours to Hack and to Own provides the most comprehensive summary of the burgeoning platform co-op movement to date.
At its simplest, the platform co-op concept is pretty straightforward; if 'we the people' own and democratically control the platforms we use we all get a better deal; without external investors syphoning off funds every quarter any value created can be recycled within the platform; workers get paid more (and, most importantly, a real liveable wage), customers get better value and together we set the rules. The profit motive, of conventional 'platform monopolies' like Uber, Airbnb and Deliveroo is replaced in favour of "benefitting the community the platform serves".
